


It's a Charmed Kind of Madness

by Awkward_Something



Category: Ever After High, Ever After High Series - Shannon Hale
Genre: Alice in Wonderland References, Inspired by Alice in Wonderland, Original Character(s), Wonderland
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:13:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24413407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Awkward_Something/pseuds/Awkward_Something
Summary: What happens when a Charming falls through a mirror and into the wonderlandiful world of Wonderland? Follow Daring and Alice as they search for a way to help him return home.
Comments: 17
Kudos: 14





	1. Daring Through the Looking Glass

**Author's Note:**

> Certain characters such as Chat Cheshire, Rook Whiteford and Azu Absolem are characters of my creation for the Wonderland world in EAH. They are not at all canon.

Daring and Dexter Charming, the sons of King Charming were helping Alistair Wonderland, the son of Alice from Wonderland, settle into his new dorm at Ever After High. Dexter wanted to get to know Alistair a little bit more after helping him get their friends out of detention from Wonderland High. He found the Wonderlandian mindset interesting when it came to riddles. Daring only helped just for the praise, he’d get. “Thanks for the help, Dex.” Alistair thanked Dexter as he put up a couple of traveling maps on his walls. Many of which had paths marked.

“Oh, no problem, Alistair.” Dexter beamed as he moved a couple of boxes.

“Hey, I’m helping plenty too.” Daring objected as he glanced at his mirror, grinning like a cheshire cat. “Where’s my thanks?”

“Daring you’re not doing anything.” Alistair pointed out, “Come to think of it, you haven’t been really helping that much.”

“I’m here, my presence is enough help.” 

Alistair and Dexter both look unamused at Daring’s comment. He wasn’t really interested in helping as much as he was interested in his own image and worth. He was just in the way of Alistair and Dexter who were actually doing the work. The wonderlandian got an idea as he looked over at a gold framed mirror that peeked out of a box. “Hey Daring, you think you can give me a hand with this mirror?” he asked and had Charming's attention like that. Daring dropped his own mirror and looked over with big eyes.

“I think I can help with that.” he grinned as Alistair pulled the mirror out of the box and handed it to the Charming who held it and just gazed at his own reflection. 

“Smart.” Dexter whispered to his friend who smiled.

“That should keep him out of the way.” The wonderlandian stated confidently, “As I was saying, riddles aren’t that complicated, you just have to read in between the lines.”

“Really? So what’s Riddlish?”

“Speaking between the lines.” he conversed with the younger brother while the eldest prince was infatuated with himself. Something in the mirror caught Daring’s eye; a blue butterfly. He looked behind him and around a couple of times to make sure that it was just a reflection but it seemed to be..in the mirror. He peered at the butterfly that fluttered in front of his reflection, blinking a couple of times as if it was just a figment of his imagination. It was a real butterfly inside of the mirror. Daring poked the mirror but the face of it squirmed like jelly. 

“Huh? Uh, guys-” He looked over at Alistair and Dexter who put themselves in a corner to keep talking. He looked back at the mirror which he held over his head and began to shake it so tried to get the mocking butterfly out but his hands slipped and dropped the mirror on his face. “Ah-” his reaction was quickly cut off as he disappeared into the mirror which shattered on the floor. The shatter pulled Alistair and Dexter out of their conversation and caused them to look over.

“Daring?” Dexter asked as his brother had disappeared but Alistair was much more concerned about the mirror after seeing the broken pieces of glass on the floor.

“The looking glass!” he cried as he ran over to it and lifted the frame up revealing all the broken shards that stayed and the few that fell out. “I can’t believe this! Your brother broke my looking glass!” he seemed to be in a state of sudden panic out of the mirror being broken.  
“Forget about the looking glass, where did my brother go?” The prince asked, being genuinely concerned for his brother. It wasn’t like Daring to leave without making a big dramatic deal about it and he wouldn’t be so careless about a mirror of all things. It’s out of character.

“If you know your fairytales, you know where he went.” that seemed like all Alistair could tell him as he was much more concerned with his mirror than Daring at the moment.

Somewhere unknown, Daring was in an antique looking room. Old stained checkered floors with high ceilings and a single table, he was incredibly confused as he should have been. “Where...how?” his thoughts echoed, the sudden color catching his eye was the very blue butterfly he saw in the mirror that fluttered in front of his nose. “This is your fault.” he pouted at it as it landed on his nose. “What do you know that I don’t?” the butterfly flapped its wings and disappeared in the wall behind him leaving behind a blue mist. He couldn’t have been more confused as he started patting the walls trying to find a way out but was stuck every which way. Daring began to panic and feel a bit claustrophobic, as if the walls were closing in on him.

He ran into a wall to push on it and his crown fell to the floor and the thud echoed. He snapped out of his fear and sighed, “Okay, okay, relax Daring. You are Daring Charming, you’re fearless, you can do this.” his attention went to a mirror on the table with a tag attached to the handle with the words; Use Me on it. The mirror resembled his own but the frame was round and bronze, he picked it up and looked into it not seeing his reflection. The prince tried hard not to panic as he had done enough of it but it didn’t stop his internal panic. “What kind of mirror doesn’t show a reflection? It’s broken.” He thought he made his conclusion, the mirror was still aimed at him but didn’t show his reflection, instead it showed something much more interesting. 

Daring noticed a bright yellow outline on the wall behind him in the mirror; a door that looked like it had been drawn on with marker or crayon. He turned around and saw nothing more than an ugly brown wall but when he looked back in the mirror, the ‘door’ was there. The prince turned around and approached the wall with the mirror in hand and began to feel the wall, it didn’t feel rough and patched like the other parts of it, it felt smooth like a wooden door. Once he felt around for the doorknob, the invisible door flew open suddenly and sucked Daring into an abyss full of mirrors. “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!!” he exclaimed as soon as he caught his breath he was thrown into all sorts of madness. The mirrors were all exactly the same, almost a personal rabbit hole of his own.

His exclaims had shattered the mirrors and the shards flew out at him, out of instinct Daring covered his face and eyes as he assumed that he would be getting cut and harmed. The shards latched themselves onto his jacket and stretched into the form of card shaped lapels with all king cards; hearts, clubs, spades and diamonds. The red and black coloring on the cards melted his jacket into a vest with mismatched coloring and patterns while his hair became messier and wavy with red, black and white streaks in the front. Another mirror shard fit itself under the collar of his shirt and took the form of a black withered tie meant to resemble clock hands. Either part of the tie refused to go under the vest. Smaller mirror formed diamond shapes around Daring’s legs to become a black and white pattern as his hightops stretched into boots of different height, one tall and the other remaining short both becoming black and a dark red.

The mirrors granted Daring a new crown to replace the one he had left behind, a black crown with crosses on it and the appearance of plastic. The blue butterfly reappeared, fluttering in front of his face again. “Are you some sort of guide or-whoa!” he was cut off trying to guess the butterfly’s purpose as he was thrown down into another mirror heading deeper into the unknown. He found himself in another room, this time with maps, gadgets and tea sets. He stood up and dusted himself off. “Sweet Aesop, if I don’t stop getting thrown into rooms-” he stretched and gave the room a good look around. It looked like he was in somebody’s home. Checkered floors resembling the antique room but they were clean and bright black and white. Wallpaper with cards, card symbols, clocks and even a few map patterns over a solid blue.

Daring turned around to the mirror he came out of, this time he could see his reflection and his new outfit. He picked at the card lapels and frazzled tie that he tried to pull down but it popped up again. “Either…” he began to conclude, “I’m in Wonderland or...a k-pop video.” he waved his black fingerless gloved hand as he pulled this together. He then looked at his hair which was wavy, highlighted and messy. “Oh come on! All that falling messed up my hair-” he tried to fix it but then he got a good look and saw that his ears were pierced. Daring backed up and felt his ears a bit, one pierced with a black heart and another with a red spade. On his right ear there was an additional piercing with a knight chess piece higher up. “Wonderland. I am definitely in Wonderland.” he confirmed.

“Brilliant!” a voice from another room called out in excitement, a female voice with a british accent. “Wonderlandiful!” 

Daring pulled away from the mirror and approached the other room slowly, following the voice until he entered but saw no one. The room he entered had a bunch of writing and equations on the walls, tables with gadgets and tools and an identical mirror to Alistair’s. For a minute, he thought he had gone into the wrong room or a room identical to the same one he was just in. He thought he was going a bit mad. 

“Maddening, isn’t it?” the voice spoke again and caught the prince off guard, he yelped at how close the voice was. He looked to his left and saw a woman. She was tall with fair skin, long dark hair and green eyes with a scar over her left eye that made it a bit brighter. She was dressed with fingerless gloves, a purple scarf, goggles on her head, a blue clock pattern jacket with a white dress underneath. She looked at Daring and smiled.

“Who are you?” Daring asked as he pointed to her but still wondering how she disappeared and such.

“Who am I?” she asked herself, “Who am I? Who...am I? Who am I? Who am I?” she sounded like a broken record. “Well who are you?” she pointed to him and got uncomfortably close to him.

“Uh...I’m asking you who you are, lady.” He told her, “You’re kind of crazy.”

“Well, they call me Alice.” she stood up straight and put her hand on her chin, “Alice Wonderland.”

“As in...Alice from Wonderland?”

“As in...Me from here.” She seemed to have gone around the bend. 

“So you’re Alistair’s mother.” he relaxed himself, “The resemblance is..there.” he noticed how similar her jacket was to his friend’s.

“Alistair?” she asked again, “Hm, sounds familiar but I can’t quite put my finger on that name…” she scratched her head and approached a map on the wall.

“Wait, excuse me, you don’t remember your son?” He asked, concerned but more or less just confused as to how she could have forgotten about her own child.

“The name is familiar around it, it’s as fuzzy as the White Rabbit’s fur. I-I just can’t knock it, I suppose!” Alice seemed gleeful towards him but kept giving him more questions to ask. She took out a pen and began writing on a map. “What brings you to my home? In need of some guidance, adventure, advice?”

“This is your home?” He asked with a head tilt.

“But of course! I live here, this is my home, where else could I possibly go?”

Daring scratched his head, “So the looking glass led me right to Ms. Wonderland’s home...I guess that makes some sense, it’s her mirror.” he thought to himself. “Maybe she can find my way home...then again maybe not. She’s insane.”

“Are you from the Red Queen?” Alice asked, Daring looked up at her as she continued to write.

“Excuse me?” he asked.

“Are you from the Redfords? Or the Whitefords? Or the Hearts? Maybe someone from another royal family of some sort of another? You must be from royal blood of some kind.” she took note of his new Wonderland outfit.

“I am a Charming.” he stated, “Daring Charming, son of King Charming.” Alice stopped her writing. She turned around and walked over to Daring, pushing his cheeks with her fingers to get him to grin and when his teeth were revealed they blinded her. She backed up with a laugh as she rubbed her eyes.

“Ah, so what I’ve been hearing is true.” she giggled, “You’re the White Knight’s older brother, one of two, yes?”

“Uh...yes.” he nodded, “I’m the eldest and the best.” he puffed his chest out and smiled.

“Then how come you’re not the White Knight that saved Wonderland?” she tilted her head and he scoffed.

“Uh, reasons.” he said, “Ms. Wonderland, do you think you can help me get home?” 

“Home? Home..” she put her hand on her chin again and rubbed it. “Home...where is home? Home..”

“Uh..Ever After.” he tried to get her back on track, “I came through a mirror.” A look of recognition sparked in Alice’s eyes.

“The looking glass.” she gasped, “I thought I lost it.”

“Looking glass?” he asked, “You mean a mirror.”

“No, no, a looking glass is a magical gateway to Wonderland, another entry way besides the well of wonder.” Alice explained as she hopped up on a stool and picked up the looking glass off of her wall. “There were only two ever made and this is one of them, I believe the other one is in Ever After somewhere.”

“But doesn’t it work like a normal mirror? You can’t possibly-”

“Impossibly.” she corrected him, “I can see the other side with the other looking glass.” She showed it to him, like before the face squirmed and wiggled before revealing a broken image. 

“It’s...broken.”

Alice looked at the glass and noticed the shattered face with a few parts being black. “This one isn’t broken...the other side is.” she stated.

“So, I can't go home?” Daring already assumed.

“Well, not exactly, the well is still an option.” She told him, “That is if Kat and/or Chat don’t interfere.”

“Wait, Kat and Chat?” he asked, “Who are they?”

“People we hopefully won’t have to worry about.” she waved her hand as if she were shooing something again, “Prepare for an adventure!” the excitement returned.

“Alistair and Dexter please help me.” Daring thought, “Or I’m going to go mad.”


	2. Daring in Wonderland

In Wonderland, Alice and Daring ventured through the colorful land in search of the Well of Wonder. The eccentric adventurer confused the prince greatly, especially her lack of memory. It seemed to be spotty, a train off its tracks, easily forgetful. “I’ve been tracking the well forever after,” she pulled out a map of Wonderland from her bag, “It appears in one of these main places.” The sepia toned map showed colorful lands featuring Wonderland High, the Caterpillar’s Garden and the Mad Hatter’s Tea Shop and Haberdashery. “But I haven’t quite figured out the pattern of it just yet.”

“How can you track something that never stays in the same place for long?” Daring asked, “It seems a little impossible.”

“Down here, we’re all mad. Down here, we’re all glad. The impossible is possible. Down here, is Wonderland.” she recited a mantra to him that only confused him more.

“Didn’t...really answer my question, Ms. Wonderland.”

“The point is,” she rolled up the map, “what it is, it isn’t and what it isn’t, it is. Think backwards.” she twirled her finger counter clockwise as a visual.

“I suppose that makes sense.”

“Tell me about your family life, Daring.” She switched topics and kept catching him off guard.

“My family life? Why?” he asked as it seemed so random.

“You said you’re a Charming, I’d like to hear about that kind of royalty. Royalty from above.”

“Oh, uh..think royalty down here...but backwards.” he informed her. “It’s kind of weird by your standards but perfectly normal to me.”

“What about your siblings? Do you have any brothers or sisters?” This especially confused Daring since when they were at her home, she noted that Daring was one of two brothers to the White Knight and knew the White Knight was his sister. Alice’s memory was more spotted than he had originally thought. He hesitated to answer.

“Uh, yeah.” he answered, “A younger brother and sister. Dexter and Darling.”

“Now you’re just repeating yourself.” she noted and he paused. Her memory was a real mystery to him.

“Ms. Wonderland...are you okay?” he asked, “You know...up here?” he pointed to his head.

“Well I’ve never been better.” 

“You seem to forget a lot of...things.”

“My memory comes and goes as it pleases but that’s the norm.” she explained, “You know, madness knows no bounds that it should know but it knows no bounds because there are no bounds it should know, you know?”

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand Wonderlandian norms but I don’t suspect memory loss.”

“I never said I was a Wonderlandian.” she mentioned and that caught his attention. “Although, I have been living in Wonderland but I wasn’t born here to be considered a Wonderlandian.”

“Then the madness has been endearing.”

“It isn’t all that bad.” she smiled as they walked over a thin bridge with fish swimming upstream. Daring stopped on the bridge and put his hand in the stream and felt the water moving up.

“Odd, very, very odd.” he stated and began to walk again. “I guess the fish are swimming upstream?”

“Well someone had to say it, didn’t they?” she chuckled as they made it on the other side of the bridge. “You remind me of another young boy I once knew; Alistair.”

“Oh?”

“Alistair was such a curious child, almost like he wanted to solve as many riddles as he could before the clock twisted.” she mentioned, “He looked so much like his father.”

“Were you close with this..Alistair?” he asked before he caught up with her and walked by her side.

“Of course, he thought a lot like me.”

“Makes sense to me.” he shrugged then saw the blue butterfly again as it fluttered near them. “It’s back again.” he thought, “What does it want?”

“Well you know-”

“Excuse me, Ms. Wonderland.” Daring stopped her, “I have to be excused.” he began to chase after the butterfly with Alice running after him.

“Daring, be careful! Don’t go too far, Wonderland is never the same!” she called out but he kept chasing the butterfly, curious as to what it wanted with him. The sapphire butterfly fluttered into a dark colorful forest but he followed with no hesitation. “Daring!” Alice had lost him as soon as the forest’s trees formed around in the front to block her off. The butterfly disappeared into the butterfly and had him lost. When the prince looked around, he couldn’t recognize where he was. It was gloomy but delightful all at once, less made sense.

“Where did it go?” Daring tried to look around, “Ms. Alice? Anyone?” he didn’t know where to go or what to do. Suddenly, he heard a mischievous, purring voice.

“‘Twas brillig,” it sang, “and the slithy toves, did gyre and gimble in the wabe.”

“Hello?” he called out to the voice because he didn’t recognize whose voice it was, it couldn’t have been Alice, the voice was male.

“All mimsy were the borogoves,” it continued to sing by a nearby tree branch, from fog turned to smoke formed a smile, “and the mome raths outgrabe..” the smile was large and wide; cheshire. More smoke formed and took the solid shape of an adult man with gray hair, dark teal eyes and cat ears. He had a skinny-muscular physique dressed in dark grey and dark teal with striped sleeves and a v-neck cut outlined with teal colored fur. He had fur boots and a checkered belt. He had catlike aspects; slit pupils, sharp eyes, a tail and painted on whiskers.

“Can I...help you?” Daring asked.

“Who...are...you?” The man grinned with a purr, “And what are you doing down wonder and not up yonder?”

“What’s with Wonderlandians and asking who’s who?”

“What’s with Charmings and your mimicking grins?” he continued to purr as he lounged on the branch. “If anything you’re but Charming without charm in an inch of your body.”

“Huh?”

“You really aren’t from around down here, curious.” he stated as he disappeared into smoke. He reappeared behind Daring and put his hands on his shoulders. The Charming jumped at the sudden reappearance of the catlike man.

“I’m Daring Charming, son of King Charming.” Daring introduced himself, “I came through a mirror.”

“Oh really?” The man’s body became smoke again and wrapped around Daring before floating up into the air and having him levitate. “My name is Chat Cheshire but, they call me the Cheshire Cat.” he sat back down on the branch of a tree.

“The Cheshire Cat?” he raised an eyebrow, “Like the..original one from the story?”

“Of course, there is only one.”

“But this one woman said she was the Cheshire Cat.” he thought of Kitty’s mother.

“Must’ve been my wife but everyone knows the original tale has me as the Cheshire Cat.” he grinned, “That woman loves to deceive.” his ears wiggled.

“But if you’re the Cheshire Cat shouldn’t you be a cat,” Daring asked with a point towards Chat, “and...fat?”

Chat’s eyebrows furrowed at the young Charming and his insult, he pouted. “Those who write the tales write them wrong.” he commented. “I am portrayed as a cat because of my obvious features.” he changed his posture and sat on his toes with his hands in front of him. “So they call me the Cheshire Cat.”

“Fairest enough but they portray you that way for a reason.” Daring mentioned.

“What brought you here, Charm?” he raised an eyebrow, he tilted his head and nearly fell but his tail caught him. It wrapped around the branch naturally and Chat didn’t have any problems with it. “Curiosity? Idiocy? Foolishness? Ignorance?”

“Are you just going to hang there and insult me?”

“I could, but chances are time isn’t particularly on your side, Mr. Charming.”

“What do you mean?”

“You seemed to have encountered Ms. Alice, have you not?” the cat tilted his head. “And her spotted shotted memory?”

“Her memory is weird.” Daring admitted.

“Well that’s what happens when someone sane falls down the rabbit hole that descends into madness.” he grinned, “They become mad as well. The madness consumes them from the inside out and renders their mind...shattered. Leaving pieces you might say.”

“So if I’m down here for too long...I’ll start losing my memory?”

“First comes forgetfulness then you will truly belong.” Chat threw himself up on the branch and laid back on it with his hands behind his head. “As they say, we’re all mad here. Even the ones that forget.” his tail casually swung below him. “Tick tock topsy turvy, little Charming, run and hurry..” his body dissolved into smoke and disappeared with the wind. The prince looked truly startled; what if he too began to forget? What if his mind became as shattered as Alice’s?

Back in Ever After, Dexter and Alistair were trying to find a way to fix the broken looking glass. “Maybe we can try tape or glue or-” Dexter suggested but Alistair frowned at him.

“It’s not like a normal mirror, Dex.” Alistair told him, “Adhesive will just mess it up, it’s a magical item. It can’t be fixed the normal way.” he gathered all the broken pieces of glass. “And it’s personal to me.”

“Personal how?”

“Just..personal, okay?” he avoided him, “It’s another way into Wonderland.”

“But if it’s just a portal, then can’t see how it would be personal to you.” he scratched the back of his head. “You did keep it in a box too, I figured that if it’s something special and magical it would be kept somewhere safe-”

“Dexter, just drop it, okay? It’s just personal to me and I need help fixing it.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll stop.”

The looking glass had been Alistair’s only connection to his mother ever since they were separated by her destiny and the White Queen. He always tried to not become emotionally lost with her and kept the second looking glass so he could always watch her work and learn her ways from a different perspective. He never told anyone about it, not even his closest friends from Wonderland. “Wait, I have an idea.” he realized then sighed. “But I can’t believe I have to call him up.”

“Don’t play the pronoun game, Alistair.” he facepalmed, “Who is he?”

“An old friend.” The adventurer answered, “Well, an old friend of Chase’s.”

“You should’ve led with that.”

“He should have some idea on how to fix this, his mother at least.” Alistair seemed sure of himself and sure of whoever Chase’s friend was.


	3. Curious, Curiouser and Curiousest

“Daring!” Alice called as she wandered through the dark woods, “Where did you go? You couldn’t have done far, Wonderland is never the same!” she let out a sigh, she hadn’t known him long and lost him instantly. As she pulled away branches and bushes to make her way through somewhat clearly but she was clearly worried about the entire situation. There was an odd feeling that emerged in Alice’s stomach, a familiar feeling of loss before. “A-” she almost called out a different name, like it was second nature. Her memory was trying to restore itself but the madness was stopping her. “Hm..pointless.” She thought as she took out the map. “Chat.” she pouted.

“Someone summon me?” Chat purred as he appeared with a typical fanged tooth grin. Body lounged in a way where one of his legs was over the other, his left hand holding up his head with the right on his hip. A slightly seductive kind of pose that was perfect for a Cheshire just like him. “Oh! Little Alice, well, you aren’t little anymore.” the cat remarked.

“And yet you insist on calling me that.” Alice moved her head, “Don’t you do anything other than sleep?”

“Just a cat nap.”

“Sure. Have you seen a young man named Daring? He’s a Charming.”

Almost immediately his eyes slightly turned wide with a spark of interest. That typical toothy grin closed into a cunning smirk but he would have gotten away if she hadn’t seen it coming. The adventurer’s eyes squinted at his smirk and suspicions brewed as to what he could be thinking. “What do you know?” she asked after the smirk’s appearance. 

“What?” Chat responded in a feign tone of surprise with a change of posture. His upper body slightly slanted with both hands on his chest in an offended style. “Nothing, what makes you think that?”

“I’ve dealt with your tricks for 20 years, Chat. You can’t pull the cards over my eyes.”

The cat’s fake surprise faded. “This Daring boy...blonde hair, blue eyes, big grin?”

“Similar to yours.”

“I’m aware.” He began to lay down again on the branch of the purple tree. “If I remember properly,” he tapped his chin with his finger. “he was chasing a blue butterfly.”

“Absolem,” she quietly noted to herself. “what did you say to him?” with a raise of voice towards him.

“Only the truth, Alice.” Chat explained, “He too will forget as you should have.”

Alice’s jaw dropped at his words but not because of the shock, just the words he last stated. “Forget Alice, it’s better to forget.” they echoed as she started to drift off. “Forget your pain, forget him.” Him was the most prominent word. Suddenly she froze, beginning to tremble slightly with her pupils shrinking in remembered fear. A flash hit her; a memory. She was running through a bright orange and pink landscape not with fear, but with joy.

“Mom! Over here!” a small boy’s voice called out with glee as he had discovered an old pendant. “What is it?” Once Alice had caught up with him, she knelt down and analyzed the pendant for him.

“It’s a pendant, my dear.” she answered, “Nothing too exciting.” A disappointing look with a pout appeared on his face.

“Do you think we’ll find anything exciting?”

“Everything we find is exciting Alistair,” she put the pendant around his neck. “because we find it together.” With an echo, she returned. The bright landscape became dark with the forest and the little boy had disappeared. Alice was staring down at her hands and her mouth shut.

“Alice.” Chat spoke up with his posture being entirely sitting up. “You did it again.” she looked up at him and the same shocked expression was on her face.

“Did what again?” her words sounded genuine and innocent. She had no idea and internally, this pleased Chat but not visibly. “Do you know where Azu is currently or some idea where Daring could be going?” she picked up the conversation from where it left off previously.

“If I had to guess, preferably Azu’s garden.” he suggested with a hum. “It isn’t too far if I remember but then again, Wonderland is never the same.” Chat grinned with his body slowly dissolving into smoke, leaving only his bright toothy smile that then followed into smoke like the rest of his body.

“Alistair?” she thought, “Didn’t you just…” there was a slight pause. “Where?” Alice rubbed her head to soothe a headache she was giving herself after having seen such a memory. It felt new despite it happening naturally before. The boy was familiar yet a stranger to her at the same time and as smart as Alice was, she couldn’t decide whether the boy was real or not. A memory is a wild card for it could have been anything it wanted to be; a fabrication or reality. She couldn’t find that fine line between what was madness and method, as if it weren’t there to even begin with. However, she pressed on in order to find Daring and maybe some answers.

Meanwhile back at Ever After, Dexter Charming tried to find out who Alistair’s friend was. The two were making their way out of the school with one of them holding the empty gold frame and the other holding a box full of its shards that for some inexplicable reason, turned solid gray. “So this friend is a friend of Chase Redford?” he asked, “Wouldn’t he be in Wonderland though? How can he be of help to us?”

“Dexter, you’re aware of the Vorpal Sword, right?” Alistair asked almost out of nowhere and an expected reaction was given by Dexter; confusion.

“What does that-”

“Just listen. My friend’s name is Rook Whiteford, son of the White Queen. He has the vorpal sword which, as its name states, has the vorpal enchantment.”

“I understand but what does it have to do with the mirror?”

“The looking glass is magical and when it shattered, all the shards dulled.” he noticed with a glance at the bag of shards. “The vorpal enchantment can repair the shards which will also fix the mirror.”

“Talk about an ex machina.” The Charming admitted but couldn’t hold back his questions. “How do the swords and the pieces connect?” Alistair stopped in his tracks that almost touched the forest. He turned to Dexter, who stopped with him, and gave him an annoyed look. “Just asking..”

“The Vorpal Sword has 13 ‘lives.’” Alistair started explaining yet was immediately cut off by Dexter again with his question.

“Lives?”

“Just shhh!” he shushed him in order to finish explaining. “The Vorpal Sword has 13 ‘lives’ as in 13 chances it can use its sharpening enchantment. However, each ‘life’ is a different enchantment given by a different Wonderlandian. The sword was a piece of each at the time, living different lives and exploring throughout Wonderland as if it were...her.” 

“Her?”

He cleared his throat, “Supposedly each enchantment represents a different Wonderlandian and only that Wonderlandian can use that specific enchantment.”

“But I thought-”

“Rook has the sharpening enchantment, that’s the enchantment he gave to the sword which he now possesses.” 

“Thanks for the exposition dump.” he spoke sarcastically as they entered the enchanted forest, “Although it still leaves the question of how exactly can we have Rook use the sharpening enchantment on the mirror shards if he’s all the way in Wonderland? You kind of skipped over that part.”

“You’re smart, Dex. You can put two and two together.” Alistair remarked, Dexter frowned then pouted.

“Not if I don’t have the other two.” he muttered under his breath but spoke confidently as he said; “I hope Daring’s okay. If he went mad down there..”

“Don’t worry about your brother, I’m sure he’s fine and not..as weak minded as he appears to be.”

“Oh no..” The brown haired boy worried, “He’s doomed.” he gulped shortly after his statement. Dexter didn’t typically worry about Daring in scenarios where he would have to fight or use his physical capabilities, be that his charm or his actual strength. He worried when his brother was required to think or use his head. Wonderland however, wasn’t expecting him to use his head. Wonderland was expecting him to be forgetful and poor in the mind. He had spent a long time chasing a blue butterfly whose wings were fading into smoke with each flutter and flap. The smoke graced itself onto the mushrooms both overly large and overly small. Various colors such as red, orange, beige and yellow. 

“Hey, who are you?” Daring demanded but it ignored him. Proceeding to let the smoke from its wings grow in volume and become dense, aggressively blue and swirling in a whirlwind-esque way. He stood still and stared as the butterfly was consumed and the whirlwind rested itself on a mushroom which responded by inching itself down like a seat. Almost in no time, the smoke cleared to reveal a tall man sitting on top of the mushroom’s head with his legs crossed. His pale complexion was nearly brightened by his blue attire that consisted of a dark sweater oddly under a lighter sweater vest with a butterfly for a bowtie around his neck. The man’s hair was long matched his clothing, being long and tied into a ponytail that almost resembled some sort of tail. His eyes were dark and sharp, judging under small rectangle glasses that were black, the only other black accessory on his outfit besides his shoes.

Crossed legged on the mushroom, he rested his elbow on his knee with a cigarette between his middle and index finger, releasing blue smoke. Daring didn’t utter a word to him but rather continued his staring. Oddly enough, the antennae on the mushroom man’s head began twitching towards the prince. Before he took another draw of his cigarette, he looked at the Charming. A stomach jump, or rather a hop, hit Daring’s stomach yet he had seen the man emerge from a ball of smoke that used to be a small butterfly. He raised an eyebrow before leaning over the mushroom and asking, “Who...are...you?” He emphasized each word with a very clear annoyed tone. It was clear from his expression and demeanor that he was being inconvenienced.

“Daring Charming,” the teen responded, “Prince Daring Charming, son of King Charming.”

“That wasn’t what I asked.” the man said, his rich voice sounding sharp like a knife. “I asked; who are you?” Daring scrunched his face up only slightly to express his confusion but replied;

“I told you who I am.” He shrugged along with his answer.

The man sighed deeply with vivid blue smoke trailing out. He dug the cigarette into the head of the mushroom and its thick stalk began to bend down. Within moments, he stood up on top of the mushroom’s head and stepped down to approach Daring. By comparison, he was much taller than the young prince with his ponytail reaching down behind his back to near his feet, almost touching the ground but not quite. He leaned down towards Daring and gave him an intense stare with calm eyes. Daring had to lean back because of how close the man was but didn’t look away from his eyes. The man dressed in blue asked him once more; “Who...are...you?” Each word was followed by a puff of smoke exiting his mouth and landing on Daring who started coughing and waving to shoo away the smoke.

“Smoking’s bad for your teeth, you know.” The prince stated once he backed away but ended up tripping over a mushroom and falling. “Oof!” The man dressed in blue stood up straight and dusted off his shoulder.

“You’re quite a fool.” he commented, “I was asking what you were doing here so you are not one like Alice.”

“To be fairest,” Daring began while he got back up on his feet, “it would be better if you asked directly what I was doing here rather than who I am.”

“You invaded my garden.”

“You got me pulled into that mirror, or, that butterfly did, or-”

“I am aware, I was that butterfly.” his bowtie oddly began to flutter with his words until he smacked it dead. “Just testing curiosity from a dumber Charming.”

“Hey!” he said, his tone incredibly offended by his words. “Well, answer me this; who are you?” the man did not appear amused by the Charming’s words. His eyes fell tired, lips slanted with sarcasm. 

“I am Azu Absolem,” Azu said in response, “but I suppose the books they have you read at Ever After High say ‘Blue Caterpillar’ instead.” his hand moved in a circular gesture with the other behind his back in a formal pose. “Or ‘The Blue Caterpillar’.”

“You don’t-”

“Look like a caterpillar?” he turned to Daring, “If that were not the case how could I have transformed into a butterfly right in front of your eyes?”

“From using your smoke, I guess?” he was even more confused than having just met him.

“Magic is a funny toy, isn’t it?”

“I don’t have time for these..riddles!” the prince stopped Azu with raised hand gestures. “I just want to go back to Ever After so if you really are the blue caterpillar, you must know how to get to the Well of Wonder.”

“Is this your attempt at a joke?” Azu asked. “I am wise, yes, but not a psychic. Although the Well of Wonder has no way of mind, only soul and body. It will appear wherever it pleases to be. Such as you.” he blew a large cloud of pale blue smoke rather than vivid. In an act of instinct, Daring covered his face so he wouldn’t start coughing again but when it faded, Azu had disappeared. His jaw dropped.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Daring groaned, “Why is everyone so weird?!” his voice echoed throughout the mushroom ‘garden’ that appeared more of a forest than garden. He sat down on the ground and pouted with his arms crossed like a child. “This isn’t fair.” he talked to himself, “Why can’t people just be helpful? Why does everyone have to be so-” Rustling bushes caught him off guard and made him fall silent. He turned his head to the sound before getting up. The rustling emerged from an oddly dark part of the garden, almost intentional. Daring started approaching the sound with little to no fear, yet something in the back of his head was doubtful. With each step, they got quieter and quieter. A yellow eye glowed from one of the bushes Daring was investigating and it caught him.

He was suddenly hesitant at the singular eye with a slit pupil like a cat’s. In a brave attempt, he looked directly at it as it did with him. “Hello?” he called to it with no answer other than the stare. “What are you?” Daring reached his hand out to it only to have it suddenly ensnared by a large, thick striped tail that resembled a raccoon’s but it had the length of a cats. “Hey! Let go of me!” the prince demanded in a panic. The tail tightened its grip around his hand and started to pull harder, squeezing his hand. The Charming pulled back and stumbled on his own feet, falling backwards. Once fallen, he was dragged into the bush. Seemingly out of nowhere, a slithering vine of thorned pink roses wrapped itself around Daring’s legs with a stronger pull than the tail.

“Hey! Ow!” He cried in pain as the thorns dug in with pinching and poking. Sudden growling emerged from the bush along with a deep, snarling voice.

“Stay out of this, Rose!” it scolded, with another pull on Daring. With no thought, the vines started shaking the prince up and down rather aggressively.

“Hey! Stop! Stop! Stop it!” Daring demanded once more but the tail released him. The roses threw him up into the air only to catch him and drag him throughout the garden. It lifted him up only to have him hit several different obstacles like various branches, a few mushrooms and flowers that all zipped by while he was being dragged. “Ow! Owww! Ouch!” he grunted and tried bracing himself for the various impacts. The rose vine lifted him up and tossed him up once more over a cliff. The bright landscape was divided by a deep canyon. For the few seconds he was in the air, Daring was all at once terrified but in awe of the land, when he descended a suddenly large green vine decorated with colorful lily flowers acted as a slide for him to the other side of the land. It was lively and vivid; bright, kind flowers with lush green grass. It felt more like a garden than where Azu resided.

The vine bumped Daring off but carefully caught him and placed him on the ground gently. Before slithering away, it gave him a little pat on the head like a pet. “What the..” he finally exhaled after the rush of events that happened. A land before him was decorated with flowers and bread and butterflies fluttering around. Dark green hedges accented with white roses but some dripping red and others dripping white. Some were even forcefully pink and poorly mixed between the two colors. This especially caught Daring’s eye and he stopped walking to examine the appearance of the roses, but mainly the ones that were poorly mixed between red and white. 

“Odd…” he called out, wiping his fingers on the rose and rubbing the paint between them.

“Well, I wouldn’t call it odd.” A honeyed voice hummed from behind; a teenage boy’s voice. The prince followed it and turned around to see a tan boy with bright wavy white hair and sharp eyebrows raised in a confident way. His eyes were light blue with a white diamond under his right eye, dressed in a formal vest and tie. On his belt was a silver scabbard that held a sword in it. The snow haired boy rubbed his nails, “I’d call it another typical day.” he smirked.


	4. The Vorpal Gardens

“Now, who are you?” The white haired boy asked with a hand held out to the Charming. Daring sighed as he blew some of his hair out of his face with a pout. His legs were covered in scratches with some light blood, his face smudged with dirt and his hair with leaves along with some twigs. He was incredibly frustrated with the whimsical land. Daring looked at him, tired of it all. He got up on his feet without the white haired boy’s help and dusted himself off.

“You know,” he spoke. “I’m getting really tired of hearing that question.”

“Ah, I see you have already encountered Mr. Absolem.” he put his hand down and chuckled slightly.

“Do me a favor and tell me, who are you?”

The white hair boy smiled and put one hand near the scabbard on his belt. “I’m Rook Whiteford, the son of the White King.” In a minute he pulled the sword out of its scabbard and tossed it into the air for all to see; the sword glittered and shined in the wonderlandian sun. A pristine white-silver sword with a decorative handle that was shaped to almost resemble a diamond. 13 solid gems along the blade that led up to the tip. It fell right back into Rook’s hand and he twirled it around, playing with it almost. “But you can just call me…” he stabbed the sword into the ground and rested his hands on its handle, “The Vorpal Knight.” he finished. He was expecting the prince to look impressed but he merely looked confused.

“If you’re the son of the White King, shouldn’t you be the White Knight then?” Daring asked which caused Rook to bite his lip in thought and a bit of irritation.

“I would have been…” he tightly grasped the handle of his sword and pushed it deeper into the ground with noticeable anger, “if a certain Charming didn’t steal my title…”

“My sister, you mean.”

“Sister-wait, are you..Daring Charming?”

“Yes, I am Daring Charming, the son of King Charming.” Daring sighed, “Do you have something against me like that cat guy?”

“More or less against your sister but that doesn’t matter now.” The Vorpal Knight pulled his sword out from the ground and returned it to his scabbard. “Alistair called me and said that I might run into you. You were the one that broke his looking glass, huh?”

“His mirror?” Daring asked, raising an eyebrow but Rook did the same in return with his words.

“No, a looking glass.”

“Whatever after, so can you get me out of here or not?”

“Well yes and no.” He admitted using his hands as scales weighing the options. “Yes because my sword can be used to take you back to Ever After but...I can’t.” Rook did his best to explain the situation. 

“Can’t or won’t? It sounds a lot like you won’t do it if the sword can take me back.” The blonde prince remarked with a point towards the sword. The knight, however, put his hand on the sword’s handle and attempted to snicker it off. His white hair nearly bouncing out of place as a sign of nervousness. 

“Can’t. The Vorpal Sword contains magic that I don’t have access to, only my father does. It contains 13 enchantments with each representing a Wonderlandian and their abilities over the madness in this land. My father Prem Whiteford, king of the Whiteford kingdom, created this sword for Alice so she could slay the Jabberwocky. He made it so certain wonderlandians can only access their own enchantments, but only he can use all 13 in total.”

“So only your dad can get me back home.”

“You’ve really got a one track mind, don’t you?”

“I’m done with Wonderland, this place is driving me-”

“Mad?” Rook’s smirk revealed some of his teeth. His left eyebrow raised while his other eyebrow lowered to visualize his regained confidence in his sense of humor. Daring was not pleased, he squinted and frowned at how bland the joke was. He noticed this but his smirk didn’t fade. “You really are done with it, any other person would have laughed out loud at that. Well today is your lucky day, Mr. Charming. I can take you to Dad and he should have you back to Ever After but we will have to make a stop first.”

“A stop where?” He began to peer around the near, clear vivid grass land for any possible place of interest but saw nothing except unusually large and thick mushrooms that felt like a reminder of the Blue Caterpillar and his unusual speaking ways. Finding no place of interest, his eyes met the knight’s once more whose smile was present. 

“Not far from here. Chase!” he called, which was answered by the sound of galloping hooves that grew louder and louder until they were soon revealed to be a large white horse. The horse was decked out in glimmering silver armor with an engraved white rose banner underneath its saddle. It snorted and shook its gorgeous silver mane in the air majestically. He approached the white steed to carefully pet the muzzle, “This is Chase.” he introduced. “My trusty steed and valiant partner.” Daring was naturally unimpressed by the horse, being a prince himself he’d seen dozens of steeds just like the one that belonged to Rook. He looked unamused but managed to get out a remark.

“I’m not going to lie here, when you called out the name I thought you were referring to another Chase.”

“Chase Redford?” Rook asked, a spark of recognition appeared in his sky blue eyes. The Charming nodded in reply.

“Although you could’ve fooled me, both have the same amount of skills.” He shrugged with an appearing smirk that was almost as wide as his typical blinding grin. 

“I actually did name my horse after the very Redford you mock. He and I have been friends forever after but,” he chuckled. “I suppose you’re correct, Chase and my brave steed are both beautiful but ultimately lack combat initiative. Well, Chase Redford certainly does.” The two shared a hearty laugh together at their remarks against the Redford for a few moments. The knight put his hand on his chest to let out a sigh followed by a tear from all the laughter. His finger wiped it away without a moment’s notice. “Alright, hop on, Charming.” Rook grabbed the end of the saddle on his horse and pulled himself up to sit comfortably, “You do know how to get on a horse, right?”

The prince let the comment roll off of him, putting his hands on his hips. “Please, I’ve ridden enough horses and dragons to know my way around a saddle or two.” scoffed Daring. The Vorpal Knight’s expression turned to intrigue and curiosity as he allowed him to climb on and sit behind him.  
“Oh, has this become a sword measuring contest?”

“No, just stating the obvious. How many dragons have you ridden, Mr. Whiteford?”

“Ah, Daring. I can tell you and I are going to get along just fine.” Rook took hold the reins of the horse and began riding with the Charming sitting behind him. Atop a mushroom the boys rode under sat Chat Cheshire whose body was crawling with grey and teal smoke from teleportation and disappearing. He gazed below to watch the two boys ride away on the white horse, his mouth shaping into a grin.

“What are you planning, cat?” The rich voice of Azu sounded from behind Chat, causing his hair, ears and tail to flare up in shock and surprise. He quickly turned to see the pale man sitting on the edge of the mushroom’s cap, exhaling blue smoke while grey smoke was floating off of the edge of his cigarette. “Aren’t you just a bit old for pranks? I can understand your wife but you?” The cat sighed in relief at his friend. His body sat on the opposite side of the mushroom cat.

“What makes you think I’m always up for trouble, Zu Zu?” his voice purred musically, “Does one only see the worst in a feline with claws rather than heart?”

“Caterpillars are untrue but cats are the wild deal of a card’s end, nevertheless underestimated for those who dare to play. Origins unknown and yet the smoke continues to flutter as if butter or music flew to the skies taken down by wretchedness. Arcs are how we move but stuck in place and fooled by deception and flowers so oversaturated not even a slit in the eyes of those who dare to lie and steal for those who care can understand. Who are you?”

“Ah Azu, you never fail at words.” The Cheshire Cat complimented with a delighted sigh to begin. “You almost always know what to say to a cat.”

“You don’t realize the end game, Chaton and that is where you fail.” The Blue Caterpillar’s reply was blunt, like a bat’s. “What of Alice?” he waved his cigarette in the air, letting the smoke dance. “What of Wonderland? Why do you fail to see the beginning game?” his friend turned his head to the side, his grey ponytail sliding to hang in the air. His cat ears twitched, flickered trying to come up with a response.

“Cats only have nine lives, Zu Zu.” purred Chat once more, his grin returning. “I’m not going to spend each one without Alice.” Azu took a long draw from his cigarette and exhaled bright red smoke. He ducked his head slightly forward, letting his bangs cover his eyes and glasses. 

“Chaton...Cheshire…” Azu breathed, “You are sacrificing your king for a game of broken memories.”

“Not a game of memories.” said Chat as he stood on his feet to turn to his friend. “A game of eternity and forever.” he disappeared into smoke with the wind, leaving the caterpillar alone on the mushroom cap. Meanwhile, Alice continued wandering through the vast land on her own. A look of worry was worn on her face with eyes looking around cautiously. She remained in the bright part of the forest where Daring was taken away to look for clues. The explorer came across soft pink rose petals that were gathered in a separated trail, she knelt down to pick one up for a closer look. 

“Rose, of course...you were trying to protect as always. Brandon must have made his way over here and attacked Alistair.” she talked under her breath.

“Alice…” Chat’s voice purred in the air as he appeared behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Snooping around places you shouldn’t be?”

“I’m busy Chat, looking for someone.” she turned to him with a response. His ear flickered while looking at the rose petal she held and his slit pupils turned round. “I don’t have time for your riddles.”

“I didn’t come with a riddle, for once I came with advice.” he purred, “Why keep this up? Why keep at this? If you leave now, you’ll forget.”

“Are you giving me advice in the form of a riddle?”

“I’m just saying Alice, you’ll lose your head without us.”

“I wasn’t considering leaving.” said Alice, “Even if I did, it would be for Alistair.” at her words, Chat’s pupils had rounded themselves into circles. The cat’s pupils dilated for a second. 

“They’ll hurt you, Alice.” his tone hardened just like his grip on her shoulders. “They will laugh at you, hurt you, insult you, they will drive you back here.” She flinched at the sudden grip but kept her focus on the petal.

“Chat, everyone has to grow up sometime. No one can stay in Wonderland forever or they will drive themselves absolutely mad.” she turned to face him, “It’s nice for a day or two but everyone has to leave eventually.” His ears slowly lowered.

“Alice...can’t you stay for a little longer?”

“I can’t. You know I can’t and I’m sure my sons know that I can’t.”

He moved his right hand off of her shoulder but loosened his grip with his left. His hand slid towards hers to pick up the rose petal. “Rose Gardens,” he told her, “she isn’t too far from here but you’ll have to cross over a gorge of sorts unless you know another way across.” Alice smiled at her lifelong friend who gave her a soft smile back. 

“Of course I know another way across. I’m Allison Liddell after all, I know Wonderland even if it never stays the same.” 

“Just stay safe out there.” his ears stayed down. She wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace and patted his back. Chat’s eyes filled with tears as his pupils sharpened to their catlike state. He kept his arms down while hers was wrapped around him still. His arms shook slightly raising themselves up, eventually wrapping around Alice and giving her a hug back. He quietly purred under his breath as he patted her head. “Little Alice...don’t forget.”

“I won’t.” she pulled back from the hug, running off to find Rose Gardens and leaving Chat behind. Behind him was a small whirlwind of blue and red smoke, the odor of which caught him off guard. He turned to see his caterpillar friend holding a fresh cigarette between his fingers. 

“Not in a joking mood, I presume? No riddles or anything?” Azu asked while the remaining smoke disappeared around him. The cat fully faced Azu with tears running down his face and dropping into smoke. The caterpillar paused and exhaled with nothing. “I see. She’s figured it out, hasn’t she? That Charming-”

“Azu, it’s my fault.”

“I don’t doubt it’s your fault, cats are nature’s tricksters. But that Charming, well, didn’t he remind you of Alistair?”

“Are you serious?”

“Just from his brash curiosity.” he mentioned, “He followed me into the mirror, you don’t think that was a bit foolish?”

“What are you getting at, Azu?” Chat asked with a flicker of his ear.

Azu turned around, “Nothing you wouldn’t know..” his body faded into vivid blue smoke and flew with the wind. The cat stayed as well as his confusion but he felt that he couldn’t do anything about it. Across the gorge was the warm, lush gardens that reminded one of Azu himself. The knight and the Charming upon a white horse stopped at a large tree that seemed to have a house twisted and carved into the purple wood. It was definitely one of the more thicker trees in the woods, purely with a purpose. Rook stopped the horse near the home to get off, helping Daring down.

Daring gazed at the twisted home that had warm orange lights gently glowing from the windows in the daylight. The prince asked, “We’re making a stop here?”

“Yeah, just a quick stop for something.” answered Rook, looking his way. “Gonna stay out here?”

“Uh, no. I’m coming inside with you.”

“Okay, just act normal.”

“Shouldn’t a Wonderlandian be telling me not to act normal? Isn’t that the whole point?”

The Vorpal Knight gave the tree’s door a light knock with his fist. “Don’t get smart, you know what I mean.” The door opened to a tall dark skinned woman with light pink, white and red curly hair dressed in a robe like dress that was covered with roses. Her amber eyes sparkled brightly with warmth.

“Rook, didn’t expect you so soon.” her voice was music to the boys’ ears. “And you brought a friend? How unexpected.”

“Mrs. Gardens, this is Daring Charming.” Rook introduced Daring for him. “I’m just trying to get him back home.”

“I can introduce myself, thank you very much.” Daring told the knight before taking his crown off and bowing to the woman. “My lady.” he stood back up with his typical wide smile. The woman smiled brightly at him, her eyes glowing brighter.

“You certainly are a Charming.” she didn’t really seem to be impressed but found him amusing. “Well come in you two. Rook, Victor should be upstairs for you.”

The home was wooden from the ceilings to the floors. The lights hung, twisted around by stylized branches. Everything looked carved or fixed into the wooden interior, what wasn’t wooden was comforties such as blankets and rugs. There was also a flag that hung above a sofa with orange, white and pink stripes. It smelled of fresh baked cookies and muffins. “Rosieeee!!!” A woman’s voice squeaked from the kitchen, “Do we have guests??”

“I’ll be upstairs.” Rook turned to Daring, “Just have a seat and be normal.” he patted his back before approaching a staircase that looked semi twisted like the light fixture. The prince watched his new friend disappear upstairs before his eyes moved over to the sofa.

“Oh, please, have a seat.” Rose offered to him smiling and moving her hand towards the sofa.

“Of course, thank you.” he thanked, walking over to the sofa and sitting down. Rushing out of the kitchen, a fair skinned woman with freckles on her face. Her eyes were a bright, excited orange heightened by pink eyeshadow and lipgloss. Straight blonde hair streaked with orange and tied with a pink ribbon headband, she dressed in a pink dress under a green apron and fluffy oven mitts on her hands holding a plate of cookies.

“Oh yay! We do have guests! I knew it! Rarely anyone comes out here to visit!” her voice giggled, putting the plate of cookies on the table eagerly. “Oh! I should’ve cleaned! Rosie! Why didn’t you tell me I had to clean?”

“Darling I-” Rose tried to speak but was interrupted immediately.

“Oh nevermind! I’ll do it later! So who’s this?” 

“This is-”

“Ooh! Is he a Charming?? Or a Whiteford?”

“Lily-”

“A Redford? No. Redfords have dark hair...maybe a Hearts???”

Daring’s eyes darted back and forth between the two women who interrupted each other and tried to talk. The energy was dramatic, calm and collected against high energy and eager. “Are you two bickering again?” a third woman exited the kitchen, her voice sounding sarcastic. She dressed in a brown sleeveless dress with a turtleneck and yellow details. Her skin was tan, eyes bright yellow and hair matching the color of her attire. “We have a guest, you two.”

“Oh but Sunny!” Lily squeaked again, “We might have a Charming here!”

“Indeed and Lily is just a bit eager..” Rose chuckled.

The sunflower’s eyes met Daring’s and she raised an eyebrow. “Did you ever even ask him?” she then asked him, “Are you a royal?”

Daring stayed quiet for a few moments, wondering if the flowers were going to speak again. “Yes, I am a Charming.” he told them, “Prince Daring Charming, the son of King Charming.”

“Oh! Like Darling Charming? The White Knight?” Lily beamed, grinning so big her eyes widened with it. “You two are siblings, right?”

“Yes, she is my younger sister.”

“Oh right, that white knight girl, think I’ve heard about her.” Sunflower checked her nails, unimpressed but Rose smiled.

“Don’t act so nonchalant, honey. You were impressed.” she called her out.

“If you three do not mind me asking..” Daring interrupted, “Who are you?”

“How rude of us.” The pink haired woman chuckled, embarrassed. “I am Rose Gardens.”

“I’m Sunflower Gardens.” The brown haired woman raised her hand before lowering it back into her crossed arms.

“And I’m Lily Gardens!” Lily introduced herself joyfully, raising her hands in the air happily. Daring looked at the three, his mouth becoming small.

“Are you three...sisters?” he asked, curiously.

“No, but I can see the misconception since we all share the same name.” Rose explained, “We are all married to each other.” She moved her finger in a circular motion. 

“Oh…” he then connected the dots, “Oh! I see. I am sorry for my assumption.” he lowered his head.

“No, no, you are fine! Everybody makes that mistake the first time they see us. We are singing flower ladies, guardians of the gardens.”

He raised his head, “I take it that you do not get a lot of visitors?”

“Well, we do but..” Sunflower rolled her eyes, “It’s just this one cat.”

“Not just him! King Redford and King Whiteford come by for their weekly game of chess!” Lily added on, putting her hand on Sunflower’s shoulder and booping her nose.

“Yeah but they feel the constant need to paint our flowers.”

“Just the roses!”

“It’s bad for them.”

“Lily, Sunny, please..” Rose began to plead. 

Daring watched the flowers converse with one another, his eyes simply wandered around. He found a framed picture on a table next to the sofa. In a green plant styled frame was a picture of a young boy with bright yellow eyes, white hair and wolf ears having tan skin. He had a big toothy grin that showed off fanged teeth. The prince’s eyes then shifted to the plate of cookies Lily left on the table. Simple white frosted vanilla sugar cookies with the words ‘Eat Me’ written in red frosting. He carefully picked one up, looking at it for a moment before looking at the flower mothers who were in depth in their conversation, taking no notice of him.

The cookie looked normal enough but he carefully analyzed it anyway just to be sure. He shrugged it off and took a swift bite.


End file.
